To a person, those who worked with John W. Smith Jr., have the same conclusion: every decision he made was based on what was best for the children he served.

“I have seen thousands of school board members through the years,” Brad Hughes said. “They all say it’s for the kids, but I’ve never known anyone more singularly focused on every single decision because it’s what would best help the most children.”

It has been another great year for the Hussey Relay team. We raised $13,000.00 this year and hope to keep increasing every year. We could not have done it without the help from this community. What a great community it is!! I would like to thank the following individuals and businesses.

In a move that has shrunk the Henry County Youth Football League to just four varsity teams and given Eminence Independent School a new program, the Eminence Redskins have decided to go strictly school-based.

Starting this school year, the Redskins will forgo their partnership with the HCYFL in order to become school affiliated.

In what 73-year-old Henry Baughmam of Smithfield calls one of the biggest wins of his life, he upset top-seeded Bob Quall of California in a grueling four-hour match to advance to the finals of the National Public Parks Tennis Championship.

Baughman then teamed with J.B. Hayes of Indiana to win the doubles championship a few hours later, and the following day beat Gene Waters of Texas in the singles’ finals to give him two national titles. The four-day tournament was held at Dwight Davis Memorial Tennis Center in St. Louis on Aug. 4-7.

In a first-of-its-kind meeting between the Henry County Fiscal Court and Board of Adjustments, two magistrates said the issue of removing Roger Hartlage from the Planning and Zoning Commission was politically motivated.

In June, the court voted 4-1 to send a letter to Hartlage seeking his resignation within 30 days or he would be removed from the commission. That resignation did not come by the court’s July 20 meeting, but the court voted 3-2 against a motion to remove Hartlage.

For nearly a quarter-century, the Kentucky State Police has taken an annual in-depth look at crime in the Commonwealth, drawing from a database that brings together reports compiled by state and local law enforcement.

Each crime worthy of the police’s attention serves as a dot that helps to paint a pretty good picture of the year faced by our 10,000 officers and their civilian support. Historically, these reports show some definite trends, indicating where we are doing well and where we could do better.

Last week, Speaker Pelosi convened an “emergency” session of the House to vote on a bill that managed to combine three major reoccurring and disturbing themes from Washington Democrats’ agenda – spending money we do not have, authorizing another taxpayer-funded bailout and implementing job killing tax increases – into one $26 billion bill. The Senate amendment to H.R. 1586, the Democrats’ State Bailout Bill, which I opposed, ultimately passed the House by a vote of 247-161.